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Trucking a 75,000 lb spool? All in a day's work.

This 75,000-pound tubing spool is headed north on the Dalton Highway via Alaska West Express. According to Project Specialist Steve Willford, this particular spool for customer Nabors Drilling was lighter than usual.

The larger tubing spools are 15 feet in diameter and range in weight from 55,000 to 90,000 pounds, depending on the type of tubing. Alaska West Express has moved specialized coils, both on round spools and on more specialized work reels, with weights ranging from 100,000 to 120,000 pounds. The heavier spools are transported on lowboys with additional axles to distribute the weight.

“We regularly haul tubing spools that come into our yard on rail cars. They are unloaded and stored for transport to the North Slope as needed,” he explains. “Our primary customer is Schlumberger, but we also have occasional spools that belong to Nabors Drilling.”

The smaller tubing spools measure 135 inches in diameter and weigh 40,000 to 45,000 pounds. “This is just another day’s work for most of our yard workers and drivers,” Steve says. “This is the type of service we provide our customers on an everyday basis.”